Emotional East Cambridge residents railed against state officials last night, saying their insights about picking a developer to revitalize the former Middlesex County Courthouse fell on deaf ears.

“It’s really saddening to me to think the commonwealth of Massachusetts doesn’t take this community’s opinion into account,” said Alan Greene, 49, a photographer from East Cambridge. “We have rights and we’re citizens here and we’re being totally disregarded.”

Leggat McCall, aiming to convert the Thorndike Street building into offices, was the highest bidder among the finalists in December. Locals favored a proposal from HYM Investment Group, mainly because it included housing and would remove the top four jailhouse floors.

Carole Cornelison, commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, and Dana Harrell, the agency’s real estate chief, said Leggat McCall was chosen from seven proposals based on criteria including experience, the purchase price and projected job creation.

Cornelison said the agency is trying to foster an “atmosphere of collaboration” between Leggat McCall and the East Cambridge Planning Team.

“There is still an opportunity … to modify the program,” she said. “I ask as a community to keep an open mind about this.”

Yet residents lashed out at both officials, saying their varied concerns about the controversial project discussed in prior meetings was not included in the state’s “scoring matrix.”

“We are a very educated neighborhood, and we do our best to get what we want even if it was a developer we did not pick,” said Carole Bellew, a member of the neighborhood group.